Dental radiographs are made using x-ray examination units to acquire x-ray images of particular teeth of a patient. More particularly, an intra-oral radiographic film packet is positioned in a holder and placed in a patient's mouth, wherein the film packet is exposed to x-rays to acquire an image of the teeth of the patient.
To position the intra-oral film packet in the patient's mouth, a holder is typically employed. Examples of dental x-ray film holders are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,732 (Fried), U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,065 (Wijkstrom), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,343,875 (Eppinger), all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Intra-oral film packets are available in various sizes and shapes. For example, film packets of smaller dimensions are available for children. Intra-oral film packets also comprise various features which can affect the size shape. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,612,740 (Resch), commonly assigned and incorporated herein by reference, discloses a intra-oral film packet having a comfort-enhancing perimetric edge bead. The inclusion of this feature can affect the size of the film packet, and accordingly, the size of a comfort-enhanced film packet can differ from a non-enhanced film packet.
Since the intra-oral film packets can vary in size and shape, there exists a need for a secure holder of film packets which can accommodate different size and shape intra-oral film packets while providing comfort to the patient when placed in the patient's mouth.